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8-12 inches of snow predicted for Anchorage area

A snowy weather system should bring between 8 and 12 inches of snow to Anchorage throughout the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

Most of the snow will come Friday, with about 2 inches during the day and anywhere from 4 to 8 inches overnight, said Mark Byrd, a meteorological technician with the National Weather Service.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for the Anchorage area from Friday to Saturday.

Snowfall will taper off Saturday morning, Byrd said, and the only snow between Saturday midday and Sunday will be scattered snow showers.

Meanwhile, temperatures should hover between 10 and 20 degrees throughout the weekend.

The city's first official snowfall of the season was about 7 inches in early November, according to National Weather Service records.

The weather service has also issued a blizzard warning for Thompson Pass from Thursday at 7 p.m. to Saturday at 6 a.m., with snowfall stacking up to anywhere between 12 and 24 inches.

Mat-Su can expect an inch of snow through Friday evening, 2 to 4 inches over Friday night and not much snowfall after that, Byrd said. In the Kenai, 2 inches of snow is predicted during the day on Friday and 3 to 6 inches Friday overnight.

Byrd said Anchorage has had less snow and more freezing rain than normal so far this winter. By this point in the season, he said, Anchorage normally would have had 27 inches of snow but this year the city has had 11.5 inches.

"It's been unusual so far this season," he said.

The last measurable snowfall in Anchorage was two-tenths of an inch Dec. 4, he said.

Byrd said forecasts show chances of snow, but no freezing rain, for next week. Low temperatures Monday and Tuesday will bounce between 10 and zero, he said.

After Tuesday, the rest of the week should have lows in the teens and highs in the mid-20s.